


Somebody's gonna have to clean this up

by MalcolmReynoldsWidow (malcolm_reynolds_widow)



Category: Castle
Genre: Aftermath of Violence, Crime Scenes, Post-Season/Series Finale, Spoilers
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-05-17
Updated: 2016-05-17
Packaged: 2018-06-09 03:25:01
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,225
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/6887947
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/malcolm_reynolds_widow/pseuds/MalcolmReynoldsWidow
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Post-"Crossfire". After the dust, blood, and shell casings have settled, what happens to the loft?</p>
            </blockquote>





	Somebody's gonna have to clean this up

**Author's Note:**

> If you have had to deal with a traumatic death and the ensuing arrangements, you have my sympathy - and you probably shouldn't read this.
> 
> This may sound dark, but remember, "joy comes in the morning".

“Nobody ever shows this on TV,” Hayley sighs as the crime scene techs remove the last of their equipment.

“Of course not,” her companion snorts. “How would you get sponsors? Or an audience, for that matter? No, CSI is the closest anyone would get to this for purposes of entertainment. And of course, they get it wrong too often.”

Sidney Perlmutter is talking with his chin tucked on his chest, poking at a handheld device of some kind, as Hayley stands in Castle’s foyer surveying the damage.

“Don’t you want to go with the body?” she asks, trying to be tactful.

“He’ll keep,” says Perlmutter shortly, still poking. “Here.”

He shoves the device at Hayley, who takes it (rather gingerly, even though she’s wearing gloves) and looks at the information on the screen.

“Really?” Even as she sends the information to her own device, she gives Perlmutter a look. “Didn’t know you cared, Perlmutter.”

“Not about Castle,” says the man with a look of distaste. “Captain Beckett, however, is another story. Even the smartest women can make stupid choices, I suppose.”

“I see.” Hayley suppresses a smile and hands back the device. “Thanks for the recommendation.”

Perlmutter leaves, and Hayley sighs again. Getting the P.I. office cleaned after their ax-wielding visitor expired there was a fairly simple matter. This -

At least the mess is confined to the kitchen. Well, and the dining area. And…

She calls the number of the place Perlmutter recommended.

“Aftermath Trauma Cleaning,” says a man’s voice. “How can we help you today?”

* * *

“I grew up here,” says Alexis mournfully. She’s sitting on the staircase with a bottle of root beer; it’s the only place to sit since the furniture was either moved or disposed of. The hardwood floor has been scrubbed, tested, scrubbed again, and refinished; the curtains have been replaced completely, after she spent days hunting down the original designer and fabric.

She may have only imagined the smell of blood on them, but she couldn’t bear living with even the suggestion of such a scent.

Lanie sits beside her, unusually silent.

“Gram doesn’t want to see it,” Alexis goes on. “Not until it’s reinhabited, as she says. When it looks like a home again. I don’t know when that’ll be, though.”

“You haven’t decided what to do with it, then?” asks Lanie gently.

“It’s not for me to decide,” says Alexis. “It isn’t mine. It’s - Dad’s. Ever since we moved in it’s been his place. Upstairs, that was my domain, but this - he’d hire decorators to get ideas. But it’s always had his handprints all over it.”

The office shelves are empty, the contents in boxes against the wall next to the desk, and drop-cloths cover the places where books and mementoes once rested.

Lanie nods and decides to go with a practical question.

“How long until you start your graduate work?”

“Two months,” says her companion. “I’d be in the Hamptons over the summer, usually, but I felt like I needed to stay in town, to help with arrangements. Gram’s busy with her show. Hayley helps out sometimes.”

“You need to take some time off, girlfriend. You’ve been running ragged since before any of this happened.”

“I will, I promise.” Alexis gives Lanie a pained smile. “I just need - some more time.”

* * *

Martha Rodgers comes out of rehearsal to find an old friend waiting in the theatre lobby.

“Eduardo! How nice to see you!”

“And you too, Mrs. Rodgers.”

“Don’t you ‘Mrs. Rodgers’ me. Come have some coffee, or something. This heat is ghastly, isn’t it?”

She chatters cheerfully on the short walk to a nearby cafe, and once they’re ensconced at a table, she looks Eduardo in the eye and asks, “What’s on your mind?”

He shakes his head and smiles ruefully. “You’re too sharp by half, Mrs. R. To come right down to it, I’m thinking of retiring. I just wanted to see you before I go, and I didn’t want you to have to come to Broome Street to do it.”

“What the - Retiring? Time doesn’t fly that fast, my friend. This has something to do with what happened in May, doesn’t it.”

“I still can’t forgive myself,” says Eduardo. “To think that that man got into the building, while I was on duty - I can’t be everywhere at once. I got a call from Mr. Rubens in 4 - I called Edi to take my place. The guy must have slipped in while I was gone and before Edi got there, but I swear it was less than a minute.”

“Good Lord,” says Martha, incredulous. “Didn’t anyone tell you what really happened?”

“The police took my statement, Detective Ryan came and asked me some questions. That’s the last I heard about it.”

“What about Alexis? She’s been in and out.”

“A couple of times. I didn’t know if - she would be okay talking about it. Do you know, Mrs. R? What happened?”

“It was not your fault, or Edi’s,” says Martha firmly. “Their attacker got into the building next door and somehow got onto a fire escape, had a rope or something and made it to our roof. From there it was easy to come down into the hall. I don’t know how he got into the loft - Heaven knows these criminals have tools for that. And you have to remember, Eduardo - they thought they were safe, that there was no threat.”

“I know,” says Eduardo. “I’m - glad, I suppose, to know that we didn’t fail, that he didn’t get past us. That’s a load off my mind.”

“Not your fault,” Martha repeats sympathetically. “No one’s fault but his own.”

“Miss Alexis had the locks changed, did you know?” he asks.

“She told me. They use some kind of sophisticated key device, can’t be duplicated. She offered me one, but I don’t want it. I don’t want to go back there. Not yet.”

Seeing the look of sadness on Eduardo’s face, she leans over and takes his hand, squeezing it reassuringly.

“Soon,” she says. “You’ll see. Don’t retire, Eduardo. We still need you.”

* * *

“Are you sure you’re up for this?”

“I am if you are.”

“I’m so up for this. It’s been way too long, and Alexis has done so much. I don’t even care what it looks like.”

“As long as it doesn’t look like a crime scene.”

“Didn’t you see the pictures she sent? The furniture, the bookshelves?”

“You keep promising to show me. They’re buried on the hard drive somewhere.”

“I could make a joke about hard drives…”

“Save it. Here we are. Will you do the honors?”

“Of course. I’ve never had this kind of lock before - trickier than I expected. I got it. Hold on - I don’t got it.”

“Gimme.”

“Nope, there we go.”

“What are you doing? Hey - “

“I never did carry you over the threshold. Pretty sure that might have weakened our defense against dark forces.”

“If you say so...You can put me down now.”

“Yes, dear. Wow, this is gorgeous. I might want to keep it this way.”

“It’s - different.”

“Different as in good?”

“It doesn’t really look like...you.”

“It’s okay. Soon enough we’ll have it looking like both of us.”

Kate smiles up at her husband as he puts his arms around her.

“I like our story, Castle.”

“Me, too,” he says. “Always.”

**Author's Note:**

> Aftermath Trauma Cleaning is a real company with an office in New York City. I imagine the Twelfth Precinct has brought some business their way. Also, if you're curious about how this sort of thing is handled, there's an interesting article here: ["How crime-scene cleanup works"](http://science.howstuffworks.com/crime-scene-clean-up.htm) by Julia Layton.


End file.
